Dissidents
by do i need a pen name
Summary: They had never spoken before, never interacted with each other, didn't even know each other. But when it mattered most, they took the same side. They were witness to the downfall of the once great society of the Time Lords of Gallifrey. COMPLETE


**Dissidents**

They had never spoken before, never interacted with each other, didn't even know each other. But when it mattered most, they took the same side.

* * *

><p>He was a Time Lord, a former Commander of the Chancellery Guard and now the Castellan. Entrusted with the protection of the Citadel, welcoming a war with the Daleks had not been his natural inclination. However, protect them he would; he embraced his position, vowing to do his part to end the Time War as quickly as possible.<p>

She was a Time Lady, no one particularly special in terms of political activism. She did her part, but anything more would have done her little good as her College held little political sway on the High Council. While she did not personally favor the idea of a war, she also made no move to speak against it; raising her voice would do no good.

War raged around them, throughout all of time and space, spanning a single moment and lasting for eons. There was no end in sight. There was only death, destruction, and very little triumph.

And then what they had each long feared came to pass.

Loss.

Not the loss of a war that seemed so trivial in this new light. Rather, the loss of the one thing each held dearest to them: their families.

His was wiped out, gone forever. Hers had no sure fate, with only one definite survivor whom she had no hope of ever seeing again.

And so the two finally came to share a common belief, though still separated from each other. They both took the position of staunch opposition to the war; the Last Great Time War it was now being called. They wanted it all to end. No one supported them and their voices seemed to make no impression in their favor. He was vocal in his opposition and was subsequently replaced in his duty on the High Council. She took a more subtle path, enabled by the swiftly approaching end.

The War was time-locked, but time was fractured, and she slipped through the cracks. Her ventures were few and far between, but she did her best to make them count. The Time Lords had voted but they could _not_ be victorious. In the end it seemed like the Lord President's plan would be acted out, the war ended, entire civilizations destroyed, for only two opposed it: the former Commander of the Guard and the Time Lady with little tolerance for violence.

It was now, in this moment where they finally stood united, that the two finally came face-to-face, if only for a short while. Condemned in their dissent, they stood behind the Lord President, their faces hidden from view, as his plan unfolded and they travelled to Earth.

It was there that she finally found the proof, which had previously only been the deepest wish of her hearts, that her family was not entirely gone. The Doctor had survived. The Doctor would be on her side; he would not consent to the President's maniacal plan.

And yet he wavered, she could tell though she could not see him. The Doctor was torn, torn between his oldest foe and the resurrection of his people, the return of his family. But she could persuade him that there was another way, and without all of the violence he so detested. And so she cast off her shame, a subtle move that practically went unnoticed; her compatriot kept his face hidden, all hope long since lost.

But the Doctor noticed and he understood. She covered her face once more, content to return to the destruction and judgment awaiting her now that she knew the Doctor would survive.

* * *

><p>They were united for only a short while and it made all the difference.<p>

He was a Time Lord, the former protector of Gallifrey, ousted from power because he would not conform.

She was a Time Lady, unnoticed for years, punished for finally taking a stand.

But they accepted their condemnation and recognized their fate. Shamed though they might have been, they were witness to the downfall of the of the once-great society of the Time Lords of Gallifrey.

They were the two who stood against; dissidents who wished only to end the carnage enveloping the Shining World of the Seven Systems.


End file.
